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Big 10 releases baseball tournament bracket

The Minnesota Gophers will open the first Big 10 Conference baseball tournament to be held at a Major League Park as they play Illinois on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. CT.

Target Field is hosting the four-day event.

The Gophers (30-20) clinched the fourth seed in the tournament with a 2-0 win over Illinois (33-16) on Saturday. Minnesota, which has won the tournament a record nine times, had previously hosted it six times at the old Siebert Field, their former on-campus facility.

The tournament is a double-elimination format, with the winner claiming a bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

The top two seeds, No. 1 Indiana (40-13) and No. 2 Ohio State (34-21), received first-round byes.

Minnesota also features pitching prospect Tom Windle, a lefty with a 2.51 ERA who is ranked as the No. 29 overall prospect for June's First-Year Player Draft. Michigan outfielder Michael O'Neill, hitting .361 with 17 doubles and five homers in 230 at-bats, is ranked No. 86.

Tickets are currently on sale, with all-tournament passes costing $30, while group tickets with a minimum of 20 are available for $7 each. Single-game tickets will be available only on the day of the game at the Target Field box office, and they cost $10 each for adults and $7 for youth, senior citizens and students with a valid college ID.

Tickets can also be purchased by calling the Target Field Box Office at (612) 338-9467 or (800) 338-9467.

Jason Mastrodonato is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @jmastrodonato. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.